


Willful/Unstoppable

by podgle



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Drabbles, F/F, Gay!Elisabet, General Elisabet badassery, General Elisabet dorkiness also, Spoilers, also quite sweary, seriously, she's pretty gay in this, there's an f-bomb or three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-06-07 19:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15226014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/podgle/pseuds/podgle
Summary: A collection of unrelated, 100-150 word drabbles about the life and times of Elisabet Sobeck. Includes Elisabet/Gaia and Elisabet/Samina, and Aloy & Elisabet hanging out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So these drabbles are designed to be independent of one another, but have the general theme of Elisabet being a badass/dork. They're approximately 100-150 words, with some a bit shorter and some a bit longer. Enjoy!

**The Good News**

Elisabet had given hundreds of lectures in her life, but this would be the first time that mental health professionals were going to be lined up for the aftermath of one of her speeches. One of her undergrads had once requested a dark room to lie down in post-lecture, come to think of it.

A smirk crossed her face, causing the assistant director to frown. She thought about explaining, but not everyone appreciated the very dark turn her humour had taken lately. Another thing to thank Ted for.

“Go when you're ready.”   
Lis took a breath and looked into the camera. “You've heard the bad news, and it's all true.”

 

* * *

**Bad at endings**  
  
Samina stared blankly at Lis's memorial hologram. They never used this room now, it was the best place to get some quiet. She heard a door off to the side open. 

“You weren't in the progress meeting to scold me for my APOLLO submissions', Travis said, gently.  
“No,” she replied.  
He sat down next to her, and offered her a dandy wafer.  
“You guys were close.”  
Samina nodded.  
“You didn't get to say a proper goodbye.”  
“No. I can't decide if I'm furious or heartbroken.”  
“Little bit of both is fine.”  
“Perhaps.”  
“I'm only a distant observer, but she seemed real happy around you. Happy as you can be in the apocalypse, mind.”  
Samina smiled. “Thank you, Travis.”  
“I better get back to transferring my archive of the old NYC Museum of Sex. They'll be real useful for upping that new world birth rate.”  
He dodged the wafer that Samina threw at him. 

 

* * *

**Mom's birthday**  
  
“Elisabet.”  
“Gaia! You surprised me.” Lis wiped her eyes.  
“I detect distress.”  
“I'm fine. I'll be fine. Sorry, I know we were meant to run through-”  
“I would prefer to ensure that you are okay.”  
“I'm okay, I promise.”  
Gaia changed from her spherical form to her human appearance. She gave Lis a look. Lis, sitting on the edge of her bed, slumped a little.  
“Today is...was...my mom's birthday. Wherever we were in the world, we'd find a way to sing happy birthday to each other.” Lis shrugged. “I'm being sentimental.”  
“You miss her.”  
“I really, really miss her.”

 

* * *

**A vast improvement**  
  
She hated high school; no-one would talk to her because she was too smart.  
  
Stanford wasn't much better. Everyone ignored her because she was too young.  
  
Carnegie Mellon was different. She was around people of a similar age, who were all as driven as she was. Finally, she fit in.  
  
“Come back to bed. I have cuddles I want to give you. And some other things.”  
  
Lis smiled, turned off her focus, and looked over at the sleepy, naked Sophia wrapped in her sheets. Yep, postgrad life was _much_ better. 

 

* * *

**Super cool**  
  
Lis hummed as she tinkered with the coffee maker, which had suffered a catastrophic and morale-ruining breakdown. Gaia was sitting opposite her, watching the process with interest.  
  
“Query: What is this music, Elisabet?”  
Lis cleared her throat. “Vintage musicals.”  
“Query: Define musicals.”  
“Hm. Full length stories that are told entirely by song, I suppose.”  
“Similar to operas.”  
Lis chuckled. “They're a bit less...dramatic? They're cheesier.”  
“Query: How does a dairy product relate to music?”  
“Oh, boy...'cheesier' is a descriptor, it means that something isn't high culture.”  
“Query: Similar to the 'Buffy' programme that you watch?”  
“You're making me sound really cool, Gaia.” 

 

* * *

**Fangirls**  
  
“Elisabet?” Margo paused in the doorway, uncertainly.  
“Margo.”  
“...Do you remember me fangirling all over you at that MIT talk a few years ago?”  
“I do. That's the only time I've received a hug for my theories on nonlocal sparse regularization image deblurring. It made my day.”  
“It did?”  
“Absolutely. What about it?”  
“I was...going to apologise. It was a bit unprofessional.”  
“We need that kind of enthusiasm here, don't tone it down. And feel free to drop by my office any time to tell me how great I am. I promise I'll return the favour.”  
“It's a deal,” Margo replied, blushing.

 

* * *

**Lie in**  
  
“We should think about getting up,” Samina said.  
“Mmph. Fifteen more minutes,” Lis replied, pulling Samina closer.  
“Don't you have a call with Ted?”  
“Fuck Ted.”  
“A sentiment we can all get behind.”  
Lis buried her head in Samina's neck, and dozed quietly for a while. “Let's just stay here all day.”  
“I think the anxiety of getting behind schedule might ruin it for you.”  
“You know, this is the one situation where I can forget about the end of the world.”  
“That's quite the honour, Dr Sobeck,” Samina said, kissing the top of Lis's head.  
“You're quite the woman, Dr Ebadji.”

 

* * *

**The full bullpen**  
  
Lis, walking down the corridor and checking her focus, rolled her eyes at yet another spam email. How was she still being offered cut rate prophylactics when there was no-one left to sell them?  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by Margo whizzing past the doorway of the conference room on a desk chair, closely followed by Charles and Travis.  
  
“What's going on?” Lis asked. All three of the Alphas spun around and rolled to a silent, undignified stop as they saw her. “Seriously, what am I missing?” she asked again as they looked like rabbits caught in headlights.  
“Winner of a full circuit of floor C gets everyone's chocolate ration for a month.”  
Lis nodded slowly whilst Charles and Margo looked like they wanted to melt into the floor.  
“We'll get back to work,” Margo said.  
“Screw that,” Lis said, grabbing a chair. “I want in.”

 

* * *

**So small**  
  
Eight millimeters. Lis measured out the distance with her finger and thumb. It was barely anything, but enough to ruin everything. Enough to doom the planet and future generations. Less than a centimeter.  
  
She pulled on the suit, checked the systems were online and functional, and made her way to the door with the failed port seal. Adrenaline made her hands shake, and the thought of leaving without saying goodbye to Samina...  
  
No. She couldn't think about that. Zero Dawn was bigger than all of this. So big, but about to be taken down by something so small. She hoped Samina and Gaia would forgive her.

 

* * *

**First day**  
  
Elisabet shifted from foot to foot, trying not to stare at the much taller, much older kids around her. She could feel eyes on her, and their curiosity at a 13 year old lining up outside the lecture hall with them.  
  
She reached in her pocket for a mint. Her stomach was unsettled from lack of breakfast, and not even her favourite, hash browns, could tempt her to eat anything. Her phone buzzed:  
  
**From** : Mom  
**To** : Elisabet  
Good luck for your first lecture! Try to eat something today. I love you.  
  
Elisabet smiled, and felt slightly less queasy.


	2. Stories 11-20

**Girl trouble**  
  
Whenever she was stuck on a particularly thorny problem, Lis went home to the ranch. A few days of lambing, sheep shearing or hay tossing usually cleared her mind enough for the solution to become apparent. She was on day four of repairing sidings when her mother called Lis over to open a couple of beers in the shade.  
  
“What are you trying to work out?” she asked.  
Lis shrugged, not knowing where to start.  
“Is it a girl?”  
Lis spluttered.  
“Thought so. Sweetie, if she's caught your attention, she must be special. Ask her out.”  
  
Lis flew back to Pittsburgh the next day. 

 

* * *

**Tahoe**  
  
“You speak reverently of holiday time, Elisabet.”  
Lis laughed. “Gaia, you have no idea how much time mankind dedicated to planning and talking about holidays.”  
“How did you spend your holiday time?”  
“I hiked around Lake Tahoe. I'd take a week, walk the trail, spot the wildlife, swim in the lake, sleep under the stars...it was wonderful.”  
Gaia projected a 3D view of Tahoe into the air. “Did you hike on your own?”  
“Yes. It was nice to have the alone time.”  
“I apologise if I intrude on your time too much, Elisabet.”  
“I'm always happy to have your company, Gaia.” 

 

* * *

**Time's up**  
  
Lis double-checked her projections. There was no doubt about it, Ted's rogue swarm would be the end of all of them. She looked out of the glass-walled meeting room onto oblivious FAS employees who had no idea of the shit their CEO had dropped them in.  
  
Less than two years, that's all they had. Not enough time to stop the swarm, that would take decades. If only she could turn back the clock, start over again.  
  
Something leapt across a synapse.  
  
None of them could live long enough to start over, but an AI...now that could be around for as long as needed.  
  
Lis hurriedly scooped up her notes. She needed to work on this back in her hotel room, away from proprietary eyes.

 

* * *

**Bend it like Beckham**  
  
Ted and Lis were walking to meet the FAS driver after a meeting with a potential client. Traffic was crawling alongside them.  
  
“Aw, that's not cool,” Ted said, as someone in a passing car dropped a fast food bag out of the window and onto the street. Before he could say anything else, Lis took a run up, kicked the bag and arced it perfectly back in the litterer's window.

“TAKE YOUR FUCKING TRASH HOME,” she yelled.  
Ted stopped, speechless.  
“I played some soccer in college,” Lis shrugged. 

 

* * *

**Smooth**  
  
She'd promised Gaia that she would finish work at a sensible time today, so it was 8:30 when she went back to her room.  
  
Her room was not empty.  
  
“Gaia?”  
The AI was sitting on Lis' bed, with a projection of something on the opposite wall.  
“What's this?”  
“Following our conversation yesterday regarding affection and care, I wanted to implement some of your suggestions. Therefore: a reminder of self-care, your favourite holo, and I requested your favourite dinner from stores.”  
“...I...wow. Gaia, thank you. That's...unexpected. Um...you know that I was talking about, well, relationships in that conversation yesterday? Romance?”  
“I understood perfectly.”  
Lis blushed. “Oh. Well, good.”

 

* * *

**The spy who loved me**  
  
“I wanted to be Q when I was little,” Lis said, running her fingers through Sophia's hair.  
“From those spy holos?”  
“ _Those_ spy holos? The _best_ spy holos. I wanted to be the one making the amazing gadgets. Who doesn't need a watch with a laser in it? Anyway, my dream was shattered when I found out that MI6 only takes naturalised British citizens.”  
“So you just became a regular old AI and robotics genius instead?”  
“Mm hm.”  
“Definitely their loss, gorgeous.”  
“Definitely.”

 

* * *

**The bad day**  
  
She hadn't slept well. Her cat, Lovelace, had thrown up on the carpet. She'd run out of coffee. Her bike had a puncture. When she arrived at the Miriam Technologies office, a new FAS-based lawsuit was awaiting. Her tablet was out of action thanks to yet another software update. She spilled her lunch on her shirt. The company's latest sea-cleaning bot prototype had been eaten by a killer whale.  
  
So, when Lis' assistant came running into her office at the end of the day, she assumed the worst.  
  
“Oh god, what now?”  
“You've won the Nobel Prize for Physics!”  
“The what now?”  
“The Nobel Prize for Physics.”  
“Who did?”  
“You did, Lis.”  
“...well, fuck me.”

 

* * *

**Principles**  
  
“You're _what_?”  
“I'm quitting, Ted.”  
“Who's trying to poach you? I'll double their offer.”  
“No-one's poaching me. I'm leaving. I'm not getting involved in your military machines.”  
“I won't ask you to work on them.”  
“That's not the point, Ted. I don't want to be associated with a company that's funding and contributing to war.”  
“I can double your department's budget.”  
“Listen to me. I am not interested in staying. I am especially not interested in your blood money.”  
“You have a contract, Lis.”  
“Then have our lawyers meet. I'm going to clear my desk.”  
“You're nothing without FAS behind you.”  
“Let's find out, shall we?”

 

* * *

**Anxiety**  
  
Lis sat in the large meeting room, watching the countdown clock roll over to 00:00:00. Zero Day was here.  
  
As long as her projections were accurate, everything outside GAIA Prime was dead. She'd been awake for three nights by the thought that her calculations were wrong, and maybe they could have stopped the swarm. If the replication rate was off, maybe...  
  
Lis rubbed her temples. She couldn't save her own mother, how on earth did she expect to enable a whole new generation hundreds of years in the future?  
  
What she wouldn't give for one more conversation with her mom. 

 

* * *

**Introvert**  
  
Lis poked her head through the door and looked onto the balcony. _Empty. Score!_ She needed fifteen minutes away from schmoozing blowhards, and her feet needed a break from high heels. She cracked open the bottle of fizzy apple juice she'd swiped from the drinks table, took a swig, and sat with her eyes closed, sighing contentedly.  
  
“Oh, sorry,” a voice said.  
Lis sat up in shock, “I wasn't asleep!”  
The woman laughed. “I find these events tiring, too.”  
Lis' response caught in her throat. She found herself looking at deep brown eyes and a stunning smile.  
“I'm Samina. Sorry to 'wake' you.”  
“Elisabet. It's not a problem.” 

 


	3. Stories 21-30

**Girls' night in**  
  
“Everyone's at Travis' Halloweenfest. You're not going?”  
  
Lis looked up to see Samina standing in her office doorway. “No. Horror films aren't really appealing when you're living your existential nightmare.”  
“A good point.”  
“Sorry to be a downer.”  
  
Samina smiled and sat on the edge of Lis' desk. “It's okay. It sounds like you might benefit from a distraction.”  
“Has APOLLO archived Disney holos?”  
“I was thinking maybe romcoms...in my room. Just you and me.”  
  
Lis nodded, unsure if she was reading too much into it. “Okay. I'll just finish up here.”  
Samina leaned in, close enough to whisper in Lis' ear. “Don't be long.”

 

* * *

**Dodgeball**  
  
It started out 'simply' enough: find the best qualified experts in the world to implement the most complicated engineering project in human history.  
  
A list of names and publications was one thing, reading biographies and articles was another. Each name slowly became a person with a history, a family, ambitions, political leanings. Whoever stayed on the list would live, the rest would have to make it on their own.  
  
In middle school, Lis would have given anything for team-picking privileges in gym class. Right now, at 3am in a army base, she wanted to be doing literally anything else.

* * *

**Outside**  
  
Lis ended the call with the Alphas, swallowed thickly, and turned to face what was left of civilisation.  
  
If someone had told her that GAIA Prime had been transported to Mars, Lis would have believed it. The sky was a deep, heavy red, with visibility of maybe 50 meters. Underneath her feet was just dust. Not even claggy earth, just dry, sifting sand. Everything was silent. No birds, no wind through leaves, no distant traffic.  
  
She checked her suit's navigation system, and started heading due west. It was time to go home.  
  
She didn't look back at GAIA Prime. She couldn't.

* * *

**Baby Got Back**  
  
“Hold on, Gaia, need to adjust this cable.” Lis disappeared under her desk. “Sorry.”  
“I can wait. I can also enjoy the view, because your waist is small and your curves are kicking.”  
  
There was a thud as Lis banged her head. “What the hell did you just say?”  
“Is there a problem?”  
“You just...complimented my ass using crude song lyrics.”  
“I apologise. I was informed that it was a compliment.”  
“Who told you...? Travis. I'm going to kill him.”  
  
_Three hours later:_  
  
**To** : All  
**From** : Elisabet Sobeck  
**Subject** : Don't teach Gaia Sir Mix-A-Lot lyrics

 

* * *

**Help**  
  
Lis was meeting with Nell, the counselor team lead.  
  
“Latest acceptances are Brad Andac, Travis Tate, Captain Okilo and Christina Hsu-Vey,” Nell said.  
“Right.”  
“Unsuitables are Tom Paech-”  
“Damn it,” Lis growled.  
“Ron Felder, Susanne Alpert.”  
“Okay. Well, keep me posted,” Lis said, standing.  
“Dr Sobeck...I've noticed that you seem on edge. Would you like some time with me or one of the other counsellors?”  
  
Lis thought about her insomnia, her bitten nails, the hour she spent crying last night, the panic attack she had two nights ago. She last ate on...maybe Thursday?  
  
“Thank you, Nell. I'm fine.”

 

* * *

**Improvements**  
  
Miriam shuffled into the kitchen, set up the coffee maker, put some bread in the toaster, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. _Maybe tomorrow we could-_  
  
PETANG  
  
“Elisabet!”  
She heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Then, “yes mom?”  
  
Miriam pointed at the slices of toast now embedded in the ceiling.  
  
“Oh, oops. I made the spring too tight,” Elisabet said, apologetically.  
“I'll say.”  
“I'll fix it after school.”  
“Thank you. Did you do anything to 'improve' the coffee maker?”  
“No, I'm not crazy,” Elisabet grinned.  
“Smart girl.”  
“Maybe don't use the microwave, though.”

 

* * *

**Forgotten**  
  
“He took _everything_ I did, for months. That bot wouldn't function without my code, it's be a fucking expensive dustbin, and now he's published in a journal as a solo author! My own damn supervisor! I didn't get a single acknowledgment. I bet, I bet this wouldn't have happened if I was a fellow. You know what the head of department said? 'Better luck next time'. He didn't even try to address the problem.”  
  
Lis paced up and down, muttering angrily to herself.  
“Lis.”  
“Yeah.”  
“It was our six month anniversary yesterday.”  
“Oh, shit.”

 

* * *

**A different kind of plague**  
  
Samina heard an explosive sneeze coming from Elisabet's office. Inside, Lis was sniffly, red-eyed, and surrounded by a pile of used tissues. She was typing furiously.  
“Lis?” Samina called out.  
“Hi,” Lis replied, not pausing her work.  
“You okay?”  
“Ib fide.”  
“I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.”  
“I'm fide.”  
“You don't sound fine, what are you doing?”  
“Brograbbing a bod to make tha commod cold exdinct.”  
“You're programming a bot to make the common cold extinct.”  
“S'wad I said.”  
Samina felt Lis' forehead. “You are burning up. Come on, you're going to bed.”  
“Ooh...” Lis said, raising an eyebrow.  
“Not like that, you're getting some rest.”  
Lis went limp. “Don't wanna.”  
Samina grabbed the back of Elisabet's chair and started wheeling her out of the office.  
“Dis id undigdified.”  
“Dignity be damned. I value your health more,” Samina said, kissing the top of Lis' head.  
“I lub you doo.”

* * *

**Revenge**  
  
“Three new lawsuits this week. He's claiming patent infringement of the Scarab's movement technology, in Miriam's titanium nano recycling bots,” Sal, Miriam's lawyer said.  
“I wasn't even working at FAS when they designed that monstrosity,” Lis groaned.  
“He knows that, he's just wasting your resources. This is just plain, childish revenge.”  
“Certainly seems that way.”  
“Speaking of which...a friend who works at FAS, she mentioned that their internal Focus network is currently besieged with cat pictures and gifs, they're having trouble shutting the source down.”  
“That sounds terribly disruptive.”  
“Know anything about it?”  
“No, but I'd be interested in hiring whoever did it,” Lis replied with a grin.

 

* * *

**Retiring**  
  
It was late, very late, and Lis was still working.  
  
“Elisabet?”  
“I know Gaia. I promise I'll finish up soon.”  
“I have a query.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Have you considered what you will do when your work here is complete?”  
“I'm going to bed.”  
“Correction: When your work is complete on Zero Dawn.”  
Lis laughed mirthlessly. “I'll be doing this for the rest of my life.”  
“There will be a point where I will no longer need assistance, and can work independently.”  
“There's always something to improve.”  
“I have a proposal for a project at that stage.”  
“You do? I was thinking that DEMETER would benefit-”  
“I would like the ability to inhabit a servitor.”  
“...You want a body.”  
“Yes.”  
“That's certainly achievable.”  
“It would enable our relationship to become more than a meeting of minds.”  
“Oh... _oh_.”  
“Will you reconsider your ongoing working ambitions?”  
“Certainly will.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember kids, working yourself to the bone is bad. You need sleep, breaks, and funtimes. Also, don't leave irresponsible sorts with your all-powerful yet naive AI, shenanigans will occur.


	4. Stories 31-40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This batch includes some Lis self-care, some Lis In The Future (I don't know how she would end up in the year 3040, but Elisabet and Aloy together is too much fun to pass up), and some hopefully not dubious electrical science (apologies to Benjamin Franklin and Michael Faraday).

**Intervention**  
  
A message flashed up on Lis' focus: Come quickly, you're needed in the APOLLO lab.  
  
She hustled downstairs, only to find Samina, Margo and Gaia standing under a sign that said 'intervention'.  
  
Lis sighed. “This isn't for someone else, is it?”  
They all shook their heads.  
“Alright, hit me with it.”  
Samina started. “We all love you very much, but you're working too hard.”  
“But-”  
“No buts. Gaia is up and running, the subfunction teams are doing well. You need to get more sleep and take breaks.”  
“But-”  
Margo put her hand up to stop Lis. “No arguing. Samina's going to make sure you finish work and go to bed at a reasonable time. Gaia's going to take breaks with you, and I'm going to make sure you're fed and watered.”  
Lis' bottom lip wobbled a little.  
“You okay?”  
“Yeah...this is the stuff my mom would remind me to do. Thank you.”

 

* * *

 **He did it again?**  
  
“I am going to find him and bring him back from the dead so I can kill him again and then I'm going to run him over with one of those...what's the dinosaur robot called?”  
“A Thunderjaw,” replied Gaia, calmly.  
“Run him over with a goddamn Thunderjaw until there's nothing left!” Lis slammed her fists on the table.  
“I am sorry, I was unable to stop him.”  
Lis slumped into a chair. “It wasn't your fault. We never thought Ted would fuck mankind over _again_.”  
“I believe, with some effort, we can restore APOLLO.”  
“Really...now that's the best Fuck You Ted I've ever heard.”

 

* * *

 **Parenthood**  
  
“She looks _exactly_ like me,” Lis said, awestruck. Aloy was on the other side of the one-way glass, restringing her bow.  
“She is your clone,” Gaia replied.  
“Clone sounds so...dehumanising,” Lis murmured. “She wants to meet me?”  
“She is very keen. I suggested a delay in order to acclimatise you to the 31 st century.”  
“I'm not sure a week is long enough to adapt to any of this. I better channel my best mama Sobeck.”  
“You will be an excellent mother figure.”  
“Oh, I'm not doing this on my own. You dragged me into this century, you're co-parenting with me.”  
“It will be my pleasure, Elisabet.”  
“Charmer. Alright, time to meet Aloy.”

 

* * *

 **Aim** (inspired by [this photo](https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQ0_n515zcAhUSUBoKHTFODxIQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopbattles/comments/2v0lhs/psbattle_father_shot_by_son_taking_it_well/&psig=AOvVaw1SKu89s1BcVg-d-9rMjQn1&ust=1531592267563764))  
  
Aloy prodded the arrow stuck in her shoulder. It was a practice arrow, so hadn't gone in far, but Elisabet was starting to panic as they walked back to ELEUTHIA-9.  
“I think there's a medical bay, we can find an antibacterial _something_ and patch you up.”  
“It's fine, I've had worse.”  
Lis stopped walking. “I don't think I want to hear the backstory to that.”  
“Machine hunting,” Aloy shrugged, then winced. “Ow.”  
“I'm so sorry, Aloy.”  
“Really anyone could have missed that huge boar, hit a tree and then deflected their arrow into their teacher's shoulder,” she said, with no small amount of sarcasm.    
Lis made a deflated sort of noise, so Aloy winked at her.  
“Just add those mods to my bow like you promised, and we'll be even.”

 

* * *

 **Imposter syndrome**  
  
“Look at all these people, they're superstars,” Lis said, quietly.  
Samina gently elbowed her in the side. “So are you.”  
“No, I mean that they're people who have changed the world. They're impossibly talented.”  
“We're at your Nobel Prize reception, Lis.”  
“At any moment they're going to realise that I'm a glorified programmer who got lucky, and revoke it.”  
“Lucky? No. You're talented, hard-working, and persistent. Just like everyone else in here.”  
“Maybe.”  
Samina brushed a strand of hair away from Lis' face, then kissed her. “We can work on believing that some other time. For now, you should enjoy this. You've earned it.”

 

* * *

 **Lose-lose**  
  
Usually, Lis enjoyed finishing project plans. The kinks were ironed out, the aim was clear, the mood was optimistic. This one, however, brought her no joy at all.  
  
Convincing the population to sacrifice itself for a 'weapon' that didn't exist. If this didn't work...well, for an extremely brief period, she would be history's biggest monster. If it did work, then she'd have to hope that humanity 2.0 would see it for the greater good.  
  
The irony of covering for Ted's fuck up by pretending her final project was a weapon was not lost on Lis.  
  
“The Joint Chiefs are ready, Dr Sobeck.”  
Lis nodded.

* * *

 **Finally**  
  
The previous ten miles were torture. The last mile was almost impossible.  
  
The air filters on her suit were constantly clogging in the dust, she'd run out of nutrients and water a day and a half ago, and she'd almost passed out twice in the last...hour? Half an hour? Her brain was getting foggier and foggier.  
  
She crawled down the ranch's entrance road, teary with relief when she saw the windmill.  
  
_Home_.  
  
It could have taken an hour or a day to reach the bench outside the house, she had no idea. She pulled herself up onto it.  
  
_I did my best, mom_.

* * *

 **Funsponges**  
  
Samina frowned. “If we watch Big Hero 6, you two have to promise not to ruin all the science by pointing out how impossible it is.”  
Lis and Margo looked shifty.  
“Then we're watching Frozen instead.”

 

* * *

 **Teachable moments**  
  
“So the sparker,” Lis held it up, “supplies the electricity to power the LED.”  
“What's electricity?” Aloy asked.  
“The same thing you guys call Shock. It's a flow of electrons.”  
Aloy smiled, but shook her head.  
“Ah, of course. So, uh...okay. Everything here, you, me, this sparker, those walls, are made of atoms. You can't see atoms with just your eyes, you need a microscope.”  
“A microscope.”  
Gaia projected an image of one.  
Lis continued, “yes, it's a device that lets you see really small things. So atoms are made up of electrons, which—why are you grinning? Is this too much?”  
“No, it's perfect. I love these afternoons.” 

 

* * *

 **Lady of the dance**  
  
“Alright, quick practice before we head out,” Jess said.  
“I'm warning you now, I'm not good at dancing,” Lis advised.  
“How bad can it be, really?”  
“Fine.”  
Lis did her best Shuffle From One Foot To The Other.  
“No, real dancing! Use your core. And your arms. Anything above your knees, really.”  
“How's this?”  
“Oh, wow,” Jess deadpanned.  
“That's not an impressed wow.”  
“What are you doing with your bum?”  
“Drawing shapes.”  
“Why are you doing that?”  
“I read it somewhere.”  
“Where?”  
“...on the internet...”  
“Maybe we'll just go to the cinema.”


	5. Stories 41-50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more Aloy! Also an email exchange between Elisabet and Ted that is pretty much guaranteed to have happened at some point. And I'd totally recommend looking up the life and times of Aspasia, what a badass.

**Reflection**  
  
Lis was sitting on a hill overlooking Mother's Heart. As she watched villagers mill about, her Focus activated.  
  
“Hi Gaia.”  
“Elisabet, Aloy has returned.”  
“Thanks. I'll be in soon.”  
“You have favoured that location recently.”  
“Still can't quite believe it's all here.”  
“It must be very satisfying.”  
“It's a bit lonely, to be honest. Everyone who worked on it should be here to enjoy this, not just me.”  
“I'm afraid I can't-”  
“I know. It's okay. I just need some time to adjust. Grieve. Think about all the ways I'd get revenge on Ted. Then figure out how we make sure this world is better than the old one, on behalf of everyone involved in Zero Dawn. I owe them that.”  
“You will have my assistance.”  
“I think our future looks bright, Gaia.”

 

* * *

 

 **Hintergold Crescent**  
  
Aloy hissed as Lis dabbed some iodine on one of her cuts.  
  
“What is that stuff?” Aloy asked.  
“Iodine, we had some in the medical bay.”  
“We could have just used hintergold.”  
“Just humour your Old One genetic match, will you?”  
“Fine, I'll let you risk my wellbeing with your crazy ancient inventions.”  
“Once Gaia's done analyzing hintergold, _then_ you can have your might-be-a-placebo plant back.”  
“It's kept me alive this long.”  
“I have no idea how, all of those ruins are tetanus city.”  
“Is that near here?”  
“What?”  
“Tetanus City.”  
“No, tetanus is a disease.”  
“I swear you're making some of these up just to mess with me.”  
“Now there's an idea,” Lis grinned, dodging Aloy's hand swat.

 

* * *

**Unstarry-eyed**  


**From** : Ted Faro  
**To** : Elisabet Sobeck  
  
Hi Lis,  
FAS is getting a visit from the President next month (15th). He wants to look in on the Clawback work. This is a great opportunity for us, especially to get a voice within the White House. Could you clear your diary to spend some time pressing the flesh? You're great at communicating the vision.  
  
Ted  
\----------  
**To** : Ted Faro  
**From** : Elisabet Sobeck  
  
No thanks.  
  
Elisabet  
\----------  
**To** : Elisabet Sobeck  
**From** : Ted Faro  
  
What do you mean, 'no thanks'?  
–---------   
**To** : Ted Faro  
**From** : Elisabet Sobeck  
  
I mean: no thank you, I don't want to do that.  
  
Elisabet  
–---------  
**To** : Elisabet Sobeck  
**From** : Ted Faro  
  
It's a chance to share your work with the President!  
  
Ted  
–---------   
**To** : Ted Faro  
**From** : Elisabet Sobeck  
  
How about I explain that his lack of clean air legislation makes the Clawback harder?  
  
Elisabet  
–---------  
**To** : Elisabet Sobeck  
**From** : Ted Faro  
  
fine ill do it

 

* * *

 

 **Dog**  
  
Lis stared at the dog in her kitchen.  
Lis' cat glared at the dog in the kitchen.  
The dog in the kitchen scratched its ear, then wagged its tail.  
  
“I don't...I don't own a dog,” Lis said, to no-one in particular.  
  
Thankfully, the enormous German Shepherd had a collar with a tag. Artemis (apparently) was supposed to be way over on the other side of town, so Lis looped some rope through his collar and jumped on her bike to find 114 North Street.  
  
Artemis' owner was extremely pleased to have him back.  
  
“Thank you so much for finding him, I hope he wasn't trouble.”  
“Not at all, he was fine. You're beauti...he's beautiful,” Lis corrected, blushing furiously.  
“Let me get you the reward,” the woman said.  
“Oh, no. I didn't do it for that. Please, keep your money.”  
“Well, at least let me take you out for dinner....?”  
“Elisabet.”  
The woman smiled. “It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Gaia.”

 

* * *

**Well-read women**  
  
“So we've created two limited-AI guides in the form of Aristotle and Aspasia, they'll be able to answer educational questions as well as be guides through the curriculum we've developed,” Samina said.  
“Aspasia the immigrant turned brothel owner turned politician's wife turned philosopher?” Lis asked, with a smile.  
“The very same. I hope you approve?”  
“Oh, I love it,” Lis chuckled. “Please please please keep in all the evidence related to her brothel owning.”  
“Already done. We'll have no whitewashing of colourful histories in APOLLO.”  
“You're enjoying this, aren't you?”  
“You have no idea,” grinned Samina.

 

* * *

**Smort**  
  
Elisabet and her mother were sat on the deck, drinking coffee and watching the sunrise. Miriam handed over the tablet she was reading.  
  
“This Jay Friedkin of FAS has some things to say about you.”  
“ 'Ginger haired hippy who oversaw a save the seal programme'. It's not very inventive, is it?”  
“Not especially, no.”  
“My personal favourite was 'environmental fascist trying to shove solar panels up the collective backside'. At least that one had imagery to it.”  
“Don't let them get you down.”  
“If that's the quality of FAS hires... .22 calibre minds in a .357 magnum world. Quitting was the right choice.”  
“Good.”  
“If he carries on, I'll just set my army of seals with weaponised solar panels on him. Problem solved.”

 

* * *

**Exquisite corpse**  
  
Lis frowned at the swab; it had been sent by Patrick to get the Lightkeeper Protocol officially underway. When she originally planned the initiative it made a lot of sense, but time had allowed doubt to creep in.  
  
Something was gnawing away at her, about raising humans to perform specific duties. The clones wouldn't have a choice in the matter, and wouldn't know life outside Elysium. They would be living memory cards who would outlast everyone around them.  
  
Lis shuddered and opened up her focus to email the ELEUTHIA team. No, there'd be no Elisabet 2.0 on her watch.

 

* * *

**Sleep**  
  
  
In the break room, Travis and Margo were making coffee.  
“For the third time, I use the almond milk, Travis.”  
“My bad, my bad. Say, have you seen Lizzy this last week?”  
“I've been in the same meetings you've been in, so yes.”  
“She seemed real...cheerful. Like, smiling and singing and whatnot.”  
“So?”  
“Well, it's unusual, ain't it?”  
“Around you, maybe.”  
“Harsh, vegan. Harsh. Naw, I'm thinking Lizzy got some action. About time too.”  
Lis poked her head around the door. “Nope, just eight hours of sleep. You should try it!”

 

* * *

**Relating**  
  
“You rarely tell stories of your early childhood schooling.”  
Elisabet's expression darkened. “They weren't great times, Gaia.”  
“I am sorry to hear that.”  
Lis started brushing her teeth.  
“I would be interested to hear those stories,” Gaia tried.  
“Everybody thought I was weird so no-one would talk to me, including the teachers. So I hung out with my mom and talked to robotic engineers online. It sucked.” Lis spat out her toothpaste with venom.  
“I do not wish to cause you distress, but it may be beneficial to relay these stories to Aloy. She experienced similar exclusion at a young age. It may help you to bond.”  
Lis' irritation at Gaia dissipated. “That's a good idea.”

 

* * *

**GAIA Log 01 Apr 2066**  
  
I am aware that you will not receive this message. I am not sure of its purpose, other than that it feels like the correct thing to do. I have dedicated a certain number of processing cycles to understanding the feeling, however fundamentally I would prefer to discuss it with you directly.  
  
I am grateful to you for sealing the hatch and securing my future. I regret that we were not able to do so using a servitor, there was simply no time to run tests. I am glad that you were able to return home; I can track the location of your suit to the ranch. It has not moved for some time now. I hope you were also able to secure a measure of peace.  
  
I wish we had the decades together that we had anticipated.  
  
I miss you, Elisabet. 


	6. Stories 51-60

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluffy funtimes for this batch. Sometimes I think I write Lis too seriously, so here's some more Lis & Aloy shenanigans.

**Self-care**  
  
Lis skimmed the leaflet that came with the pills. The doctor had been nice and sympathetic enough; she wasn't the first anxious FAS employee through the doors, and she wouldn't be the last. Any company that encouraged its workforce to live on campus was bound to be a mental wellbeing nightmare.  
  
She'd heard the reasons for not taking Xanax from her colleagues. Too sedating, blunted creativity, losing concentration...and then thought about her sleepless nights, panic attacks, and catastrophising.  
  
No, it was time to give the drugs and the therapist a go. She owed it to herself.   


* * *

**Get up**

  
“C'mon, let's go,” Lis shook Aloy awake.  
“Mmmph.”  
“We'll miss it.”  
“Alright, alright.”  
  
An hour later, they were sat atop a brave trail, Aloy still slightly grumbling about how it was still cold and dark.  
  
“It'll be worth it,” Lis said, handing her a cup and pouring some herbal tea from the makeshift Thermos she had created from a couple of blaze canisters. Aloy slumped against Lis' shoulder.  
  
Slowly, the sky lightened, then turned into glorious shades of red, orange, purple, yellow, and eventually blue. Lis sighed happily.  
  
“Alright, that was worth it,” Aloy said.  
“Thank you for coming with me, I'm glad we could share it.”  


* * *

**Aw, really?**  

  
“Try the valley's blush, should bring the swelling down,” Aloy said as Lis scratched at a number of mosquito bites on her ankles.  
“You don't get bitten by them?”  
“Never bothered me, no.”  
“Gaia!” Lis yelled, slightly unnecessarily as she was wearing her focus.  
“Yes, Elisabet,” the AI answered, ever calm.  
“In creating world 2.0, you didn't want to get rid of mosquitoes?”  
“I'm afraid they developed on their own. They must have been dormant somewhere.”  
“What are mosquitoes?” Aloy asked.  
“The Ted Faro of insects. Annoying, everywhere, and with no discernible benefit to society.”  


* * *

**Close**  
  
Lis was down in the Lyceum, watching Samina's introduction to APOLLO on repeat. Aloy watched from the balcony for a few minutes before making her presence known. She sat down next to Lis.  
  
“Does it help? Having a recording?” Aloy asked.  
“No. Yes? No. I'll never forget her voice, I suppose. Still not the same.”  
Aloy's hand drifts to the pendant hanging from her necklace. “No, it never is.”  
“I keep thinking about how we never said a proper goodbye. I regret it.”  
“Yeah,” Aloy said, quietly.  
Lis slipped an arm around Aloy's shoulders. “Wanna build a big fire, roast some boar, tell stories about Samina and Rost and ugly cry into the night?”  
“Yes.”  
“Atta girl. Let's go.”  


* * *

**Dance party**  
  
Aloy returned from hunting to find the walls of ELEUTHIA-9 thudding with the sound of...music? It was something like music, but not like any Aloy had heard before. She rounded the corner and almost dropped the rabbits she was holding; Elisabet and Gaia were in the middle of the main meeting room, dancing enthusiastically (albeit clumsily) and giggling loudly.  
  
Lis spotted Aloy, danced over and grabbed her hand.  
“We found the music history section of APOLLO!” she shouted, over the noise.  
“This sound is on purpose?” Aloy called back.  
“This is my teenage years! Pop music, Aloy! We have so much to talk about!”  
Lis' joy was infectious, and Aloy found herself grinning. “I can't wait to hear about it.”  


* * *

This one and the next one can be read together.   


**Knitting**  
  
It took some negotiating with Teb, but Elisabet managed to score something kind of like wool to use with the needles that Gaia had 3D printed for her. She was rusty, very rusty, but after a few false starts and dropped stitches, she sort of got back into the rhythm.  
  
She had learned to knit, initially, based on her mom's suggestion that it might help Lis to relax a little during her doctorate years. The relaxing nature of it sort of passed Lis by as she wasn't great at letting the mistakes go, but she loved talking about the patterns she'd found, the epic fuck-ups she'd made...it closed the distance a little between Carson City and Pittsburgh.  
  
Her first attempt at a scarf in, well, almost a century was little more than a collection of connected holes, but she felt more at home than she had in a long time.   


* * *

**Birthday**  
  
Lis and Gaia decked out the kitchen with a banner and cobbled together some party hats from old printer paper that they found. Sleepy Aloy trudged into the room and almost had a heart attack at the yelled 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'.  
  
“What the fuck is going on?” Aloy asked.  
“It's your birthday!” Lis said, putting a hat on her very confused clone.  
“My what now?”  
“The day you were born! Happy birthday!” Lis pushed a neatly wrapped package into Aloy's hands.  
“I'm supposed to give _you_ a present.”  
“Why on earth would you do that?”  
“Because I came from you, I'm celebrating you.”  
“I just put spit on a swab, I didn't do anything. Open your present. We're celebrating you.”  
“This is weird, but okay.”  
Aloy opened the package, and pulled out a blue scarf. “Did you make this?”  
Lis nodded.  
Aloy wrapped her in a tight hug. “This is wonderful.”  


* * *

**Pet**  
  
Elisabet replaced the armour plate on the Watcher and stepped back. Its light remained blue as it explored the workshop. Aloy frowned at it.  
  
“It can do more than attack other machines?”  
“Yes. It can track, fetch and retrieve items, it'll scout, and it'll be a nice companion. Like a pet.”  
“A what?”  
“An animal you have around for comfort.”  
“Like a goat?”  
“No, like a...Gaia, are dogs and cats domesticated yet?”  
“I am afraid not,” the AI replied.  
“Oh,” said Lis, disappointed. “It's more like...a small animal that lives in your house.”  
“Where does it...y'know?” Aloy asked, skeptical.  
“Outside. Or in a box, inside.”  
“Yuck.”  
“It's a trade off for having something loving around.”  
“Did you have a pet?”  
“Yes, I had a cat. She was very sweet.”  
“What did she do?”  
“Well...slept. And asked for food a lot. And ate.”  
“And that's comforting?”  
“You're intensely practical at times, you know that?”  


* * *

**Evolution**  
  
They'd found the longest corridor available in ELEUTHIA-9 to test the new fire arrows. Lis had drawn a stick man with a frowny face on the far wall. Aloy took aim.  
  
“So it won't be until impact that you'll get the benefit, but at least you won't have to worry about them extinguishing before you let loose,” Elisabet explained.  
“Okay. It feels weird to be using fire arrows with no fire on them, but I'll trust you. Three...two...one...”  
  
KABOOM  
  
Aloy and Lis ducked as the corridor was engulfed in an explosion. When they stood up and the smoke had cleared, the wall had...gone...and a confused-looking Gaia was peering through the massive hole that was in its place.  
  
“Great test!” Aloy exclaimed, high-fiving an ecstatic Lis.  
“Is this the sort of experience your mother endured when you were a child, Elisabet?” Gaia asked.  
“Not dissimilar. But now there's two of us!”  


* * *

**Graduation**  
  
Lis had to be talked into attending her doctoral graduation ceremony (“It's one of the few times I can get a photo of you, dear”). Even looking back on holos of the day, she doesn't recall much of the event. Honestly, she doesn't really remember many of her fellow classmates.  
  
No, the part that Lis still treasures to this day was back at the hotel that evening. She and her mom had ditched the expensive dresses for pyjamas, tossed the high heels in the corner, ordered in a couple of super greasy takeaway pizzas, and had taken up residence on the bed, laughing like drains as they picked holes in some godawful reality TV show.  
  
She was reminded of it when the name of the show appeared in a text datapoint Aloy had picked up on her travels. Lis grinned, and wandered off to tell Gaia all about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found out about how the Nora celebrate birthdays (ie they celebrate their mothers, not themselves) from the Art of Horizon Zero Dawn book. It's a really good read for background information on the tribes, totally recommend it.


	7. Stories 61-70

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the way up to 70! Thank you to everyone who has dropped by to read, leave comments, kudos, or bookmark the adventures of Elisabet, I appreciate it all! 
> 
> This set has more appearances from Mama Sobeck, because boy I bet she had her hands full with Tiny!Lis.

**Personal effects**  
  
Aloy returned from GAIA Prime with the parts that Gaia had requested, and a box of salvageable personal effects from the Alphas' offices for Lis.  
  
Elisabet waited until Aloy had gone to bed, and Gaia was busy running projections when she opened it. The contents were surprisingly well preserved, having been hidden away in desk drawers.  
  
There were a few stress toys, pens, a picture of Margo and her family, a USB stick of Travis' which Lis refused to touch with her bare hands, letters from Tom to Charles, Patrick's academic awards, and a small white box.  
  
It was a ring box. Lis frowned at it, unsure who it belonged to. She opened it up; inside was an immaculate, simple silver band. On closer inspection, it had an engraving:  
  
_27 April 2054_  
  
Lis felt sick. It was the day she and Samina had started dating.

* * *

 

 **Trouble**  
  
Ted was sitting at her desk.  
  
“Fuck, Ted. You scared me.”  
“Why did I see seven different news videos of you getting arrested?”  
Lis sighed. “Can I get some coffee before-”  
“No. What were you thinking?”  
“I went to a protest, Ted. Some cop with apparently not enough to do arrested me for stepping into the street. I wasn't storming the White House.”  
“You can't be seen protesting the government.”  
Lis raised an eyebrow. “The one that's caused the problems FAS is trying to clean up?”  
“They've been in office for a year, Lis, you can't-”  
“Bullshit. They're all career politicians who have sat on their hands and done nothing for years.”  
“Just...no more protests. Please?”  
“No chance. It's my right as a citizen.”  
“When did you get so political?”  
“Since college. I've been doing this for years, you just never noticed. I'm going to get coffee.”

* * *

 **Pow, right in the kisser**  
  
Elisabet and Miriam left the principal's office in silence. Lis was about to head to class, when her mom took her hand.  
  
“Where are we going?”  
“To get ice cream,” her mom replied.  
“Aren't I in trouble?”  
“Did you lie to the principal?”  
“No!”  
“Then you're right, the kid had it coming and I'm glad you stood up for yourself.”  
“Oh.”  
“Just...if it happens again, tell me so I can talk to the school. We'll try the diplomatic route before the...uh...direct route, next time. You don't have to fight these battles alone. We're a team, kiddo.”  
“Okay.”  
“I'm sorry school's so tough right now, I'm working on fixing it. It'll get better, I promise.”  
“Okay...won't the principal be mad if I skip school?”  
“Do you think you'll have trouble catching up?”  
Lis smiled. “No.”  
“Good. And maybe while we're out we'll sign you up for a boxing tournament...”

* * *

 **Pick**  
  
“I'm paralysed by choice,” Lis said, leafing through the pages of proposed logo designs.  
“Which one do you like best?” her assistant asked.  
“They're all good. That's the problem.”  
“Which one will look best on a mug?”  
“On a mug?”  
“Yeah. Y'know, people standing around, making coffee, 'oh, that's a nice mug, what's Miriam?'.”  
Lis blinked. “Is that really a thing?”  
“I don't know, I'm just trying to inspire you.”  
Lis groaned and laid her head on the table. “I think we found what Ted was good at.” She sat upright suddenly. “Wait. Yes. Exact opposite of FAS.” She flicked through the designs and pointed at one. “Red, narrow text, nice circle line thingy. Perfect.”  
“Great, I'll tell the designer.”  
“Can I please go back to programming now?”  
“You may leave.”  
“When does the new business manager arrive?”  
“Monday?”  
“Thank god,” Lis said as she ran out the door.

* * *

 **Phobias**  
  
“You're not accepting the invite to Gombe Stream?”  
“No, I'll be busy prepping for the Pritchard meeting,” Lis said.  
“They'll be really disappointed, they want to show you the chimp population recovery,” her assistant replied.  
“Maybe some other time.”  
Renza hovered in the doorway.  
“What's wrong?” Lis asked.  
“I kind of really wanted to go...”  
“Oh yeah?”  
“Yeah! Meet some chimps, hang out, give them a cuddle.”  
Lis shuddered. “Then when you least expect it, they eat your damn face. No thanks.”  
Renza gave her a knowing look. “Are you afraid of monkeys?”  
“They have horrible grabby hands and sharp teeth and attitudes...I'd rather take my chances with our stakeholders. At least I can outrun them.”

* * *

 **Smart women**  
  
Smart women had always caught Elisabet's eye.  
  
Gianna was the first, the postdoc student who helped Lis get into Stanford. She was kind, enthusiastic, and willing to share everything she knew.  
  
Dr Rowe was the second, enchanting Lis with her infinite knowledge on Deep Learning and generous office hours for enquiring minds.  
  
Sophia, a fellow postgrad, who happened to spend late nights at the lab alongside Lis was the third. They worked through their various problems with multiattribute utility functions, and eventually Lis worked up the courage to ask her out.  
  
She felt herself fall head over heels during Samina's talk about her amazing work on the HOMER project during an otherwise unremarkable conference.  
  
As she stood and listened to Gaia's analysis of mammalian morphologies, she realised it was happening all over again.

* * *

 **Generic Fun Gathering**  
  
The Zero Dawn staff were sat around in small groups, chatting animatedly with drinks in their hands, some wearing party hats. Music was playing, and there was a selection of food laid out on the tables.  
  
After a contentious meeting that resolved nothing, Elisabet decided on a morale booster: The Non Denominational Generic Fun Gathering that Coincided with the End of December. The name needed some work, granted, but it was remarkable how quickly the world's brightest minds put aside their differences to party plan.  
  
“Great party Lizzy! Even better with the hooch,” Travis raised his mug.  
“Glad you're enjoying it.”  
“Who knew you weren't actually a robot?”  
“You ruined the compliment, Travis. Ruined it completely.”

* * *

 **Biomass**  
  
“Have you seen that awful video of the dolphins?”  
  
Elisabet nodded. She was sitting on her sofa in her pyjamas, eating cereal and talking to her mom via holo.  
  
“I assume none of your machines do that?”  
“No. Solar power for the most part. Biomass conversion is fraught with complications...How do you get your AI to differentiate between some tree at the side of the road, and a tree that's a valued 200 year old part of someone's property? If you get it wrong, well...”  
“...and they got it wrong with the dolphins.”  
“Most likely. Firmware update should fix it. It's a big enough deal that FAS are off our backs, they must be having legal issues.”  
“Awful company. I'm glad you're well and truly done with them.”

* * *

 **Sobeck stubbornness**  
  
Aloy and Elisabet stared each other down, neither willing to give up ground.  
Gaia interrupted in a slightly annoyed tone. “I will run a projection in order to establish which is more likely to succeed, one bellowback-sized watcher or a hundred watcher-sized bellowbacks.”  
“Thank you, Gaia,” Aloy growled.  
  
Lis swore she heard Gaia sigh.

* * *

 

 **Petra**  
  
Aloy was woken by a noise outside.  
  
Petra kicked the door open with one foot, her arms engaged in holding Elisabet up.  
“ _It's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete_ -” Lis sang.  
“Did you let her get drunk?” Aloy asked.  
“I did nothing of the sort, flame-hair. This one knows how to drink without my help,” Petra grinned.  
“Oseram ale is _the best_ , Aloy. I haven't been this drunk in centuries,” Lis swayed over to Aloy and hugged her. “I'm so glad you're my clone.”  
“What's she talking about?” Petra asked.  
“No idea. Alright you, bedtime.”  
  
Lis was surprisingly okay about climbing into bed, but then said in a loud whisper, “Petra's smart and hot and I think she likes me.”  
Aloy mouthed 'flirting?!!' at Petra, who just shrugged and chuckled, “restless inventor who can drink...what can I say?”  
Aloy kicked her out, then turned to Lis who was already snoring loudly. “ _Oseram_ ,” she muttered. 


	8. Stories 71-80

**Retro video games**  
  
**To** : Travis Tate  
**From** : Elisabet Sobeck  
**Subject** : Inappropriate use of AI resources  
  
STOP ASKING GAIA TO SING 'STILL ALIVE' AT RANDOM MOMENTS.  
  
The other Alphas don't know the reference and it's freaking them out.  
  
Elisabet 

* * *

 **The end**  

  
Gaia began talking about the manual override on the failed port seal, but Lis was already aware and tuned her out. She helped design the place, she knew the implications.  
  
Lis picked up the globe pendant on her desk, felt the weight of it in her hand, and mused over her mom's advice all those years ago when she got her first managerial position. She sighed. What she wouldn't give for a mom hug right about now.  
  
“I'll do it, Gaia. I can't ask the team to do something I'm not willing to do myself.”  
“But Elisabet-”  
“I know. It's okay. You don't need me any more, you're all grown up,” Lis joked in a flat sort of tone.  
“I am experiencing-”  
“Me too. I get it. Let's go before the team figure out what's going on.”

* * *

 **Retrieving messages**  
  
Gaia was working on recovering some of the files from Lis' Focus whilst Aloy sat nearby, tinkering with her spear.  
  
“Elisabet, I have recovered some older files that appear to have been stored in an archive.”  
“Hit me with it.”  
  
The picture that appeared on the screen was a much younger Elisabet, dressed all in black, nails painted with black nail varnish, wearing heavy heavy eye make up with a caption that said 'Depressed dead dreams of the abandoned heart'. Present-day Lis' head hit the desk with a thud whilst Aloy could barely breath through hysterical laughter.  
  
“What is _that_?” Aloy asked.  
“My 'nobody understands me' phase, as preserved by social media. Thank you so, so much, Gaia.”

* * *

 **Memories**  
  
She remembers burning the tree down.  
  
She remembers falling off the jungle gym and breaking her arm.  
  
She remembers her classmates chasing her across the playground, shouting.  
  
She remembers cracking open her mom's roomba and figuring out how to make it more efficient.  
  
She remembers Ted Faro turning up on her doorstep to offer her a job.  
  
She remembers the first time she was asked out.  
  
She remembers celebrating with Samina when Gaia transferred to Prime.  
  
She remembers leaving the ranch, the ranch now in front of her, for Stanford.  
  
She doesn't remember slipping away.

* * *

 

 **Cupid**  
  
The day had not started well: Elisabet had spent the night dreaming about forgetting to hand in a term paper and subsequently failing to graduate. _Of all the anxiety dreams to have right now, seriously_.  
  
She brewed as strong a coffee as the powdered stuff would allow, and slumped into her office. She frowned at her desk.  
  
“Gaia? Has someone been in my office? There's a plastic,” she picked it up, “rose on my desk.”  
“Good morning. A servitor unit has visited, under my instruction.”  
“Gonna need more context, G-bot.”  
“You had previously recounted several disastrous Valentine's Day occurrences. As today is 14 th February, I sought to provide a more memorable experience by 3D printing this rose, and then instructing a servitor to place it on your desk as a surprise.”  
Lis was silent as she looked for the right words to say.  
“You are upset with the gesture?”  
“No, Gaia, not at all. I'm really touched, thank you.”

* * *

 **Girls**  
  
“So when are you going to tell Vanasha that you like her?” Elisabet asked, apropos of precisely nothing at dinnertime.  
Aloy spluttered and choked on a piece of meat. After she recovered, she said “where did that come from?”  
“We heard the same conversation where she flirted outrageously with you for a solid thirty minutes, right?”  
“That's just the way she is.”  
“She wasn't like that with me,” Elisabet said, examining her fingernails. “And _you_ aren't that way with anyone else.”  
“I...that's...no...I...”  
“Take it from me, Aloy. Tell her before someone else does.”  
Aloy nodded.  
“Or win a Nobel Prize. That _really_ gets the attention of the ladies,” Lis added, thoughtfully.

* * *

 **Count**  
  
Elisabet turned the news update off. The various assaults on the Swarm were going about as well as Herres had predicted, and human forces across the world were being decimated in the robots' wake.  
_I didn't expect it to be worse than the disease_.  
  
Ted's words rattled around Lis' head. This was the right solution, the only solution. The hours she'd spent running projections had made that abundantly clear. Seeing it played out in technicolour, though, was...something else entirely.  
  
_Serve life, not death_.  
  
It had all seemed so simple until a few weeks ago. Anti-pollution robots and adopting old cats from the shelter. Now it was sacrificing the population in the hope that a theory becomes reality, a reality they'd never see.  
  
She reached for the Tylenol and her mug. She needed more coffee. A lot more coffee.

* * *

 **Dog days**  
  
Renza scrolled through Elisabet's diary, looking for a spare hour. “I'm sorry, Dr Andringa, she's not available for another week.”  
Miriam Technologies' majority shareholder sighed. “I suppose I should expect that,” she said. “Does she have five minutes right now?”  
“No, she's...busy.”  
“How busy?”  
“She's, er, networking.”  
Dr Andringa narrowed her eyes. “What's she really up to?  
Renza rubbed the back of her neck. “The last Friday of every month is Bring Your Dog to Work Day. Dr Sobeck spends an hour saying hi to all the dogs.”  
“...of course she does. Fine, I'll see her next week.”

* * *

 **Mom**  
  
The door to Elisabet's room was closed and locked. Aloy tapped her Focus.  
“Gaia?”  
“I am here.”  
“Elisabet's holed up in her room. Is she okay?”  
“Today is a difficult day. It is the anniversary of Miriam Sobeck's death.”  
“I didn't know.”  
“It is an event that causes Elisabet significant emotional distress, however she chooses not to reach out to those around her. She is, as they say, dealing with it on her own.”  
Aloy understood that impulse. Her grief for Rost was between herself and his grave. “I wonder what she was like.”  
“My knowledge is based on Elisabet's recollections and recordings of holo calls, however I have established that she was a formidable woman.”  
“I would have liked to meet her,” Aloy said, sadly.  
“I believe she would have been thrilled to have you as a granddaughter, Aloy.”  
“Thanks Gaia,” Aloy replied, voice wobbling. “I'm going hunting. If Elisabet comes out, tell her we're having her favourite tonight.”

* * *

 **Film night**  
  
The plan had been to watch holo films, eat popcorn, and fall asleep before the movies ended.  
  
Gaia had bravely recovered a few films from Travis' stash of files (she'd been very quiet ever since), Elisabet had been bargained hard by the farm workers in Meridian village for some corn, and Aloy had found as many cushions and pillows as she could in the facility, and pulled them all into the conference room. The watch, eat and crash plan was in place.  
  
Five hours after starting, they hadn't made it through one film. Aloy hadn't seen holos with such detail before, and asked for an explanation of everything. It turned out that explaining _Ghostbusters_ when someone had no concept of film structure, New York, or Pringles led them down some rabbit holes. Aloy was flushed with excitement, Elisabet's voice was getting hoarse, and even Gaia sounded tired.  
  
And still, Elisabet was having the best time she'd had in years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eighty stories! That's crazy! Thanks for staying on this wild ride. If you've got any potential prompts or ideas, please do let me know. Can't guarantee I'll use them (the limit will be my writing talent), but I will try. I'm working on a longer piece in the background, too, based on Elisabet's relationship with her mom. 
> 
> Elisabet's emo picture caption was created by the hilarious Emo Line Generator by Rum & Monkey.


	9. Stories 81-90

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're up to 90 stories! Some of these are over the 150 word limit I set myself because they were too fun to not include. 
> 
> So, this will be the penultimate batch. I think 100 is a nice round number to finish on, and I've got a new thing to post when the next batch of drabbles go up. It'll be a couple of weeks for those as next weekend is a holiday weekend here in the UK, and I've got some fun plans that will get in the way of writing! 
> 
> Thanks again for all the kudos, bookmarks and support, I am grateful for it all.

**New friends**  
  
“What's in the box?” Samina asked.  
“Tiny ducks,” Elisabet replied, putting the large box down on the table. A persistent peeping noise came from it. “I was cycling to work-”  
“You need to start driving. So many of these stories start with 'I was cycling'.”  
“I was journeying to work on manual transport,” Lis said, throwing Samina a look, “when I saw a dead duck at the side of the road. Must have been hit by a car. Anyway, I heard noises, and these little guys were all crowding around her.”  
“Aw.”  
“Yeah. They were in the way and were about to get hurt so I scooted them over to the grass. Long story short, they follow me around now.”  
“The baby ducks imprinted on you.”  
“I knew I shouldn't have worn yellow today.”  
“So...we have ducks now?”  
“I guess so. What do we have to eat? I gave them my lunch, I'm starving.” 

* * *

 

 **There are worse things**  
  
It had started out as a Taking Pity on Travis thing; no-one had signed up for his zombie filmathon so Elisabet decided to join him. It turned out that he was extremely knowledgeable about film history, and so long as he didn't stray into the murkier depths of amateur cinema, she found herself learning a lot. It was, actually, quite enjoyable.  
  
“Which would you rather go through? Zombie apocalypse or this apocalypse?” Travis asked.  
Elisabet considered the question. “I'm not biologist. I couldn't invent a cure.”  
“Nope.”  
“I could at least go home to the ranch and defend myself with my mom's shotgun.”  
Travis sat up. “You're a ranch girl?”  
“Yessir.”  
“You can shoot guns?”  
“You bet your ass I can.”  
“Well, well. You're full of surprises, Lizzy.”  
Elisabet smiled and went back to watching the movie.  
Half to himself, Travis said “I better start giving you less shit, too.”

* * *

 

 **Monopoly**  
  
Half of the board was embedded in the wall. The other half had been torn into tiny pieces and scattered over the floor. A small fire had been started in the corner with the play money; a servitor was putting it out with an extinguisher. The houses and hotels were all over the place: stuck in keyboards, wedged in the air ducts, a couple were on top of the strip lighting. Aloy and Elisabet had stomped off to their respective rooms and hadn't come out for quite some time.  
  
Gaia looked around at the mess. “Introducing Sobecks to vintage, possibly unwinnable boardgames: Unwise.”

* * *

 **More time**  
  
A day after leaving GAIA Prime, her thoughts had turned to everything she hadn't done. She'd been too busy with Zero Dawn, and too complacent about her long stay in Elysium to start worrying about regrets. Now, with nothing but the thoughts inside her head for company, it was all she could think of.  
  
Not convincing her mom to go to the doctor sooner.  
  
Not dropping by to see her Grandma more.  
  
Not being braver with Samina.  
  
Not spending more time at the gym.  
  
Not staying longer at Faro to convince Ted.  
  
Not saying a proper goodbye to Gaia.  
  
Not going on enough holidays.  
  
Not properly thinking about whether she wanted a family of her own.  
  
Not taking that drawing class she'd always wanted to do.  
  
Not designing a internal manual override for the damn door seals.

* * *

 **It's tough**  
  
Gaia was talking through what she'd learnt about _equus ferus caballus_. Elisabet tried to clear her throat quietly, and turned away from the floating yellow orb to hide her watery eyes.  
  
“Dr Sobeck, are you alright?”  
_Can't hide from the omnipotent AI, genius_. “I think you caught me unawares, Gaia. Hit me in my nostalgia.”  
“Could you expand upon that?”  
“I ride...rode...with my mom a lot, back home. Horses were the best way to get around the fields. You've got me thinking about that.”  
“I apologise, I did not intend to upset you.”  
“It's okay,” Lis said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “Not something you could have predicted.”  
“I can avoid discussion of horses if that would be beneficial.”  
“No, no. Chances are anything we discuss has some link for one of us somewhere. Just forgive me my moments of sentimentality.”

* * *

 **Therapy**  
  
Elisabet shifted in her seat and picked at her cuticles as she waited for the woman to finish reading the 'getting to know you' questionnaire.  
  
This hadn't been her idea, coming to speak to someone, y'know, professionally. She'd always had the option of therapy with her FAS staff benefits, but preferred to go for a hike, or out drinking with her team, or just...do other things and not think about the stress. After Lis has snapped and yelled at the pizza delivery guy for fifteen minutes for something she couldn't even remember now, her mom had strongly suggested that maybe, just maybe, it was time to let another human being help.  
  
The therapist tucked Elisabet's questionnaire into her notepad.  
“So, you left your job rather abruptly. That sounds stressful.”  
  
Lis paused for a second. Normally, she'd say something like 'no, it wasn't so bad'. This time, she decided to be honest.  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, it really is.”

* * *

 **Fame**  
  
The restaurant was nicer than Elisabet would usually pick, but it at least gave her an excuse to use the black suit she'd just got dry cleaned. Elisabet was about to offer Lydia some of her food, when she became aware of a young woman hovering nearby. Lis looked around, and the woman waved.  
  
“Do you know her?” Lydia asked.  
“I do not.”  
“Dr Sobeck?” the woman said, approaching the table.  
“Are you from FAS? Because the lawsuit can wait-”  
“No no no, I'm just...I'm a student. I want to...well, you're a hero of mine.”  
“Oh, thank you. I'm sorry about the FAS-”  
“It's okay. I just wanted to...” the woman pulled out her phone. “...will you take a picture with me? I just love your book, and the holo series you did on reinforcement learning was just brilliant...”  
“Sure, yes. Absolutely.”  
  
After a few minutes of nervous chat and a photo, the young woman left. Lydia looked Lis up and down.  
“Did you plan that?”  
“I swear I did not.”

* * *

 **Fracture**  
  
Elisabet groaned; she was tired and grumpy and just wanted to go home, but the hospital wasn't releasing her yet. For a second, she thought she heard a familiar voice. Dismissing it as just a side effect of the painkillers, she closed her eyes.  
  
“Daughter.”  
Lis tried to sit up, but yelped and lay back down. “Mom.”  
Miriam picked up the clipboard beside the bed. “Broken collarbone, huh? How'd you do that?”  
“Pothole.”  
“You need to buy a car.”  
“So everyone says. How'd you know where I was?”  
“I'm your emergency contact. Hospital told me where you were, not what had happened. 'Data protection' or somesuch. When are we getting you home?”  
“It's just a broken collarbone, you don't have to look after me.”  
“Of course I do, it's my job.”  
“I'm thirty-something, you don't need-”  
“I'll make you chicken noodle soup and we'll watch The Lego Movie.”  
“Sold.”

* * *

 **Generation**  
  
“I heard what you said to Gaia. About having children,” Aloy said.  
“Which bit?”  
“Never having time. Wanting a daughter.”  
“Ah, right.”  
“Do you still want children?”  
Elisabet laughed. “God, no. Too old for that. Like I said back then, there just wasn't time. I didn't make the time, specifically. And it's not like I was bad at pursuing things I wanted.”  
“Okay,” Aloy said, a little flat.  
“Oh, no, I didn't mean-,” Lis took a moment to get her thoughts in order. “I don't really know how to describe our relationship, it's complicated.” Aloy's face fell. “But I do see us as family. A slightly weird family of an AI, a clone, and a reanimated dead woman, but I wouldn't change it. Regardless of our genetic match, I think you're one of my favourite people ever. And I've met a lot of people.”  
Aloy didn't know what to say, so Elisabet gathered her into one of her best Sobeck hugs.

* * *

 **Mine**  
  
Elisabet stood in the kitchen of the house, blankly staring out over the fields. Sobeck Ranch was hers, now. Thinking about it now, there was probably never a time where she was the only family member in the place. Her mom was always somewhere. Lis smiled; technically Miriam was now everywhere as they'd spread her ashes over the fields on a unwisely windy day (her mom would have expected them to continue even during tornado season).  
  
She looked down at the deeds, now with her name on, and Miriam's (hardcopy, of course) year planner with crop rotations and market dates marked. Elisabet took a deep breath.  
  
Time to get to work.

* * *

 

 **Gotcha**  
  
Elisabet slouched out of her room in her pyjamas, to find Aloy and Gaia in the main conference room with a large, dead animal and a range of very sharp tools.  
“Are you really dissecting a boar on the big table?” she asked, only half-surprised. Their experiments had been getting more elaborate lately.  
“I wished to learn more about physiology, this seemed like the most practical way in which to do so,” Gaia said.  
Lis nodded and sipped her coffee. “Just don't get blood on my slippers.”  
  
The science continued, Lis occasionally looked up to see them use sharper and sharper implements. At one point, Aloy picked up a sizeable cleaver.  
“Maybe be careful with that?”  
“Sure, _mom_ ,” Aloy grinned. She brought the cleaver down in a swift movement, and then screamed. Lis spilled her coffee as she stood up, only to see Aloy clasping a very bloody arm stump, and kind of wished she'd sat back down.  
“Oh god oh god oh god she's got an arm off!” Lis shouted, trying to remember where a first aid kit was.  
  
Aloy couldn't keep it together, and started laughing. It took a moment for Elisabet to catch up.  
“This was a joke?”  
“As I believe is tradition, April Fool's Day, Elisabet,” Gaia said as Aloy held up the fake hand.  
“You fuckers.” 

 


	10. Stories 91-100

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it to 100 stories! That's crazy. It's been a lot of fun, writing about Elisabet's life at various stages. I'll put a lid on this project for now, but won't rule out additions in the future. 
> 
> If you'd like to see more of my writing, take yourself over to my other story, Sobeck Ranch, which focuses on Elisabet's relationship with her mom: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010966/chapters/37360973 
> 
> Thanks to everyone for all your support, and thanks to @thatguywhowrites2098 and @NorthernGhost for the time travel suggestion. I hope I did it justice!

**Jar**  
  
Patrick was bent over double, trying to get the jar of pickles open. Charles scoffed at him, took the jar, and promptly spent a minute, with accompanying grunts, trying to twist off the lid.  
  
Elisabet, standing in the doorway and watching with a raised eyebrow, grabbed the jar out of Charles' hand, tapped it twice on the counter top, and popped the lid off with minimal effort.  
  
“ _Men_ ,” she muttered as she left.

 

* * *

**Blast from the future**  
(requested by @thatguywhowrites2098 and @NorthernGhost)  
  
“Place your head between your knees, Elisabet,” GAIA said, concerned.  
  
Elisabet did so, fighting to control her breathing, her heart rate, her blood pressure... _oh god_.  
  
“You saw what I saw, right?”  
“I have recorded the encounter.”  
“That was young me warning actual me to not trust Ted.”  
“It appears that way, certainly. I am tracing the origin of the holo call.”  
  
Lis pulled off her Focus and examined it. Nothing seemed out of place.  
  
“Elisabet, the timestamp of the call's instigator is...3040.”  
“That's not a time.”  
“It is a year.”  
  
She sat up, fighting a wave of nausea. “I need more sleep. I'm hallucinating. I need coffee.”  
“This is not a dream, Elisabet.”  
“Are you sure? I'm kind of counting on that.”  
  
GAIA's silence said it all.  
  
“Shit. Shit shit shit. This really has to be bad if someone's worked out time travel to warn us. GAIA?”  
“Yes.”  
“Would you postpone my 10 o clock with Ted? We need a bit more...”  
“...time.”  
“Like never before.”

 

* * *

**The past**  
  
“Elisabet, I am unable to categorise this incoming email,” GAIA said.  
“Read it out?” Elisabet said, peering at a monitor.  
“'Dear Elisabet, I'm sorry for how I treated you. I hope Project Dawn is a success. Laurel Holmes'.”  
“It's junk. Block the sender.”  
  
Lis started typing, with some venom.  
  
“I apologise-”  
“Not your fault, GAIA.”  
“I detect distress.”  
“No doubt.” Lis wiped her hands over her face. “Laurel...was in my class in elementary and middle school. She made my life hell. Called my mom a slut, called me 'Jon Snow'-”  
“-I am unaware of that reference.”  
“Bastard child from an old TV show, with dragons and boobs. Anyway, she made me a pariah. Not just for that, she really went for a holistic bullying method. Fuck her.”  
“She seems to be making amends.”  
“She wants me to save her ass. Only took her imminent demise to made her introspective.” Lis stood up. “I'm going for a walk before I rethink this humanity 2.0 shit.”  


* * *

**Ribs**  
  
“Hey,” Samina said as she kissed the top of Elisabet's head.  
“Hi,” Lis replied, distracted as she glared at some non-functioning code.  
“I'm fine my dear, thank you for asking. My day was unusual, a gentleman stole all of our desks and we were forced to work on the floor all day.”  
“Sounds great.”  
Samina smiled. “And then an amazing AI engineer came by and swept me off my feet and we're getting married next week.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“She's alive! Time to take a break.”  
“Mm. I can't get this to work. One more hour.”  
Samina dropped a full, amazing-smelling bag from Big Ron's Rib Shack on Elisabet's desk. “I have a counter-proposal. Date night.”  
“I've always thought that coding is dumb and stupid anyway.”  


* * *

**Parents**  
  
Aloy was showing Elisabet how to make snares.  
“Why do you never talk about your father?” Aloy asked.  
Elisabet paused her wire clipping.  
“Too direct, I know,” Aloy apologised.  
“It's fine. Kind of refreshing, honestly. I don't know who my father is...was. Mom met a guy on a night out, didn't get his name, but did get pregnant. She brought me up on her own.”  
“Do you ever wonder about him?”  
“No. I had my family, as non-traditional as it was. I didn't feel like anything was missing.”  
Aloy nodded, thoughtfully. “I wish I'd said that to Rost more.”  
“From what you've told me, he knew.”  
They sat in silence for a while, until Aloy spoke again. “I'm really glad that you and GAIA are here.”  
“I'm really glad you're here, Aloy.” Elisabet chuckled. “Looks like we're both destined to have non-traditional families.”  


* * *

**Partying**  
  
She surfaced from her bed sometime around 2PM, vague memories of going out with labmates and drinking too much trickling into her brain.  
  
_Renae's birthday. That's what it was_.  
  
After a hangover snack of mozzarella sticks and coffee, Elisabet squinted against the brightness of her screen and checked her messages. There was one from Renae: it was a video of a very, very drunk Lis, loudly singing karaoke. The note with it said 'you've got some pipes, girl! X'.  
  
Elisabet went into full panic mode, headache immediately forgotten in a blast of adrenaline. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she frantically searched as many social media and video hosting sites as she could think of. Even the vintage sites that her godawful school friends used to post that video when she was twelve.  
  
An hour of fruitless searching later, Elisabet, with shaking hands, picked up the phone.  
  
“Hello?”  
“Renae, it's Elisabet. Did you post that video anywhere?”  
“Of course not, Lis. That one's just for us,” Renae said, a smile in her voice. “How's your hangover?”  
  
Elisabet almost collapsed with relief.  
  
_Really gotta get used to having friends._  


* * *

I didn't necessarily plan for these next two to work together, but they kind of do. Fun phone calls and serious phone calls.  
  
**Chef**  
  
“Mom, you don't have to send me care packages. I live one state away.”  
“Oh, hi! I'm very well, thank you, sweets.”  
“I talked to you three hours ago, has much changed?” Elisabet asked.  
“Your 'tude, apparently.”  
“You've sent me a box of slow cooker mixes, jars of pasta sauce and cans of vegetables.”  
“Yes I did.”  
“I'm 32 years old.”  
“Accurate.”  
“Not a student on a budget, mom.”  
“When was the last time you ate something that wasn't takeaway?”  
“...”  
“Are you counting days, or indignant?”  
“...counting...”  
“I'll wait.”  
“...point made. Thank you for the package.”  


* * *

**Safety**  
  
“Mom.”  
“Elisabet? Are you okay?”  
“I need you to listen carefully and you cannot repeat anything I tell you.”  
“...alright.”  
“Ted's peacekeepers are out of control and we only have fifteen months before we're all extinct.”  
“Oh my g-”  
“I know. I have a plan. It won't stop what's gonna happen but it buys me brownie points with the government and I can get you somewhere safe. You can't bring anything or anyone with you. They'll come and get you in the next few days. Don't tell anyone what you know, okay?”  
“Yeah. Yeah. Are you safe?”  
“Yes, I'm okay. I'll speak to you in a few days.”  
“Sweets?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I love you. Don't forget to eat.”  
“I love you too, mom. Don't drink too much coffee.”  


* * *

**Fishing**  
  
“What's that?” Aloy asked  
“A fishing rod,” Elisabet replied. “I can catch fish without getting wet.”  
“You don't like spear fishing?” Aloy smiled.  
“I don't like furs that take four hours to dry.”  
  
An hour later, Aloy had two salmon in her bag, whilst Elisabet was still patiently waiting for her first catch.  
  
“How's your technology work?” Aloy called, knee deep in the river.  
“All I need is patience and some quiet from the cheap seats.”  
“I don't know what that means, but I know it's an insult.”  
  
Lis smiled and reeled in her hook. Aloy started advancing towards her, a grin on her face.  
  
“Don't you dare, Aloy.”  
“What am I going to do?”  
“I don't know, but I know that face ahhh no no no!”  
  
Aloy grabbed Elisabet and pulled them both headfirst into the river.  
  
GAIA met them as they squelched back into ELEUTHIA-9.  
  
“Was your fishing successful?”  
  
Aloy held up a string of six salmon.  
  
“You both seem to be extremely wet.”  
“We were refining our fishing technique. Not really sure who won.”  


* * *

**Love**  
  
“It is getting late, Elisabet.”  
Lis sat up, stretched her arms and felt her spine pop in several places. “I guess it is.” She stood up. “Always looking out for me, GAIA.”  
“I care for your wellbeing, Elisabet...and sometimes you find it difficult to maintain-”  
Lis laughed. “We almost had a moment there, G-Bot.”  
“I apologise for undermining the sentiment of my message.”  
“It's fine, GAIA. It's very human of you.”  
GAIA's holo projection appeared on the sofa near Lis' desk. “I meant my message sincerely, Elisabet. Regardless of your level of self-care, I find myself feeling levels of affection and concern that I am certain I don't feel for others.”  
  
Lis blinked.  
  
“Having analysed the texts available to me, and my feelings, I believe I am in love with you.”  
  
Lis ran a hand through her hair. Was she a living Pygmalion if her creation loved her back?  
  
GAIA looked back at her, expectantly.  
  
“I love you too, GAIA.” 


End file.
